This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

Scientists can learn a great deal about an asteroid's orbit, rotation, size, shape, and metal concentration. Asteroid Classifications Main Asteroid Belt: The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, generally with not very elongated orbits.

The Perseid meteor shower, which peaks in mid-August, is considered the best meteor shower of the year. With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long "wakes" of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth's atmosphere.

Summer Meteor Shower (Perseids) (NASA Science News - July 19, 2002) SwRI Researchers Ask: Where Have All The Comets Gone? (Southwest Reseach Institute - June 20, 2002)

Dec 13, 2000 · The researchers discovered evidence of bacteria in a Martian meteorite. Tiny magnetite crystals - so called magnetofossils - embedded in the meteorite were confirmed to be the type produced only by a biological process unique to magnetotactic bacteria.

Two of NASA’s space telescopes (Hubble and Spitzer) tracked the object traveling about 85,700 miles per hour (38.3 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun. Its outbound path is about 20 degrees above the plane of planets that orbit the Sun.

Apr 22, 2020 · Analysis of the meteorites showed that Dishchii’bikoh, unlike Chelyabinsk, was a harmless size of 80 centimeters in diameter (32 inches), based on rare isotopes left in the meteorite from exposure to cosmic rays in space.

NASA Mars lander felt the ground shake during the impact while cameras aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the yawning new crater from space. Stunning New Meteoroid Impact on Mars

Nov 26, 2003 · Follow their history, from the meteorite that may have caused the dinosaurs' extinction to present day scientists who are learning about the formation of stars and solar systems from these otherworldly envoys."

Jan 9, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.